He fought on for another hour before his grip on the sword weakened and a rider, half-mad with terror, struck a blow at his head, failed to split it but stunned him so that he fell upon the bodies of the slain, tried to rise, then was struck again and lost consciousness.

The uranium spot price has retreated from $62/lb in 2008 for grade U308 to $47/lb through late August of this year because of oversupply caused by what analysts describe as a weakened period of nuclear utility purchasing.